“I was thinking about something you said awhile ago, about how you save for your vacations.”

I was getting ready to do some writing at the local coffee shop and one of our friends was sitting with me, waiting for their latte. “Yeah, we have been doing it for a few years now, it makes a huge difference for us”

“We finally did it, well not exactly, we didn’t have it all saved up, but most of it. Going on a paid vacation is a LOT of fun, I never would have imagined it would make such a big difference.”

I smiled, and nodded, I love hearing about people trying out new money money management tactics, especially when they work. “No credit card bill takes a lot of the stress off for sure. We save for Christmas the same way.”

“I’m not sure we’re there yet, but maybe…”

* * *

Saving ahead of time for retirement and your children’s education is something most people understand (even if they are not doing it yet). Saving ahead of time for vacations, toys (the child and grown up kind), Christmas, cars, and houses is a little more foreign. Those are the types of things that are “above” the usual costs, and you just put them on a credit card, get a loan, or a mortgage, and pay it off over time.

Similarly, when you start a business you go in knowing that there will be start up costs, ongoing costs, and growth costs. Not to mention the cost of loss income if you decide to quit your job and start your business full time. Not a problem though, like vacations, Christmas, and cars start up costs are a “good debt” to take on as they help you start and build your business. Right?